Spring Break 2016

Spring Break 2016!

 Chaotic trip to Disneyland? NO!

Skiing in Colorado? NO!

Exotic trip to Mexico? NO!

Instead...we went to Oklahoma City!

Our soon to be new home town.

On our way there - we hit up Medieval Times in Dallas.

The kids absolutely loved it.

I think they stayed up until at least midnight battling it out once we finally made it to our hotel (and I'm sure keeping all the other hotel guests awake)

The next morning we headed to Paul's Valley, OK en route to our realtor meeting to buzz through the Action Figure Museum.

This place was amazing.  All three of my dudes were transfixed as they made their way through the exhibits.

And then we were all amazed to see the wall of superheroes and action figures.

So many collectables!  And believe it or not, we have a TON of them (thank you Rosie for never throwing any of Billy's toys away!).

It was super fun checking out the Marvel and DC Comics exhibits.  The kids excitedly went through each row of characters, naming them off and discussing their super powers.  

They even had a Star Wars section - the kids were mesmerized!

We hit a neighborhood diner for lunch, then headed back into the car for OKC.

It didn't take long for this guy to fall asleep...I guess he had a little too much stimulation at the museum - I'm sure he had some fun super hero dreams!!!  I mean seriously, he was out...cold.

After a day of running through houses we had a good nights sleep and hit the Science Museum the following morning.  This place was incredible.  So many things to do and see and experience!

Like putting on a play...

Break dancing with robots...

Making your very own funnel cloud...

Challenging yourself at motor skills games...

And of course, making tons of noise....

We even discovered that as a family, we weigh almost as much as a baby grande piano haha!

Will made a push pin profile...

And of course Johnny went in face first haha!

The boys got to see what their skeletons look like when they move (or dance like crazy)...

They tried out a tightrope (so did I...maybe :) )...

And they (kind of) learned about centrifugal force (finally something for the figure skaters!)...

They had a very interesting pulley section (Will may or may not have broken his....)...

And then we stumbled upon an amazing surprise for Will - a giant state of Oklahoma with a light board of rocks and minerals.  The boys were able to find their favorite rocks, push the corresponding green button, and then the geographic location where one could discover the rocks would light up on the map.  SO COOL!

I've seriously never seen John smile like this before - apparently we need to have his next birthday party here!

There was a mirror maze...in which John ran into his own face no fewer than five times haha!

And what good would a science museum in OK be without a weather center...

And tornado tube? haha....

We learned about the differences in how much objects weigh on the moon vs on earth....

And even got to see some pretty cool space exploration things like a mars rover and these thrusters (I think from one of the Gemini expeditions)...

After more fussing with realtor issues - we called it a day.

The next morning we hit up the zoo - it was INCREDIBLE.

People I work with told me it was one of the best in the country, and I am a believer!

They had rhinos...

Tigers...

And John's favorites - gorillas.

guys - they even had a BABY gorilla that was seriously the cutest animal I've ever seen...

Of course there were elephants....

And cool cats like a Puma, Bobcat, and more!

They also had two grizzly bears - SOOOO cool!  These guys played and swam and put on a great show for us.

To include a little backscratching - hysterical!!

On the way out we stopped by the rhinos for a bit again, and the boys held a serious discussion on how they look just like dinosaurs...

Whew!  What a day!

Again - after a bit of realtor fuss - we called it a night and got ready for our next adventure.

The Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. 

Aside from the fact that it was in Boomer Sooner country, it was AMAZING.

They had a great paleo section which infatuated the kids (even a little cranky John)...

Everyone was excited when we came upon this fellow - a Pentaceratops with the largest noggin ever discovered! 

Will loved this guy - Platecarpus...

And then we found the coolest one on display.  Saurophaganax.  The state fossil of OK.  This therapod roamed the earth EIGHTY MILLION YEARS before the Tyrannosaurs Rex.  EIGHTY MILLION YEARS!!!  I mean, are you kidding me?

The boys tried to see if they measured up to the femur (thigh bone) of an Apatosaurus....not even close...

Next we were headed upstairs to see what else this place had to offer...

Between the Natural Wonders Exhibit and the People of Oklahoma Exhibit - it sure didn't disappoint!

What a great trip to Norman!!! 

After a quick lunch, and an even more abbreviated nap (poor Johnny - he tried his best to be a trooper) - we hit the Museum of Osteology.

This place was super cool - for starters, they had the skull of a blue whale in the reception area!

You name it - this museum had it - from a giraffe...

To a running cheetah....

To a silverback gorilla...

And John's other favorite mammal - the grey wolf.

If you ever wanted to know what a hippo's skeletal system looked like - here ya go!

And of course, they had a rhino as well...

One of the most amazing things of this whole place was that they somehow were able to hang the complete skeleton of a humpback whale from the ceiling.  Ridiculous!

And they even had an anaconda (gross).

That might have been our most exhausting day ever.  Between real estate negotiations and kiddo entertainment, we were all exhausted by the end of the day.

I think the next day we pretty much had settled on our offer and come to some sort of agreement with the sellers of our soon to be new home.

To celebrate - we hit the aquarium.  

Small. . . but perfect.

The boys were able to get hands on with shrimp, sharks, starfish, and horseshoe crabs.

They also had the opportunity to feed some carrots to some very well fed turtles...ha!

We checked out the really cool underground shark tunnel...

And elbowed our way to the front of the petting area.  These little sharks don't bite (thank goodness)...

Personally, I thought the coolest part of the aquarium was the octopus.  This old gal morphed not only  her complete shape, but color, right before our eyes.  It is incredible what these creatures can do!

After another quick lunch and nap - we were off to surprise the soon to be birthday boy with a special treat.  Oral Roberts University, a small private Christian university in Tulsa, has one of the most incredible private rock/mineral/gem collections in the nation.  

So.

We went.

And were SOOO lucky that it was open during spring break!  Score!

Will was fascinated with the variety of crystals they had, from amethyst, to iridescent, to smoke, to citron, to rose, etc!

But the one rock he still talks about to this day is the Agate.  The tour guide had a special story about the Agate.  And it resonated with him.  The guide told a story about how from the outside, it is just a huge, big, ugly rock.  That you don't even know what it looks like on the inside and how special it is unless you happen to break it open.  The guide went on to state that even though God makes us all different, different shapes, colors, etc - we are all beautiful on the inside.  So there ya go - don't ever judge a book by its cover!  What a great message.

Next we learned about minerals - and how they actually generate energy!  And as such, they glow under black light.  Who'da thunk it?  CRAZY!

What a day. 

By this time, we had basically a contract on a house.

And two very tired boys.

So we headed back to the hotel :)

Friday was Will's 8th birthday - so we did an all day celebration.  Donuts in the am for breakfast, park time, cupcakes, and the Aggies just so happened to be in town so we hit the game and watched them win!

Before the game began, we walked through Bricktown (OKCs old refurbished fancy section) and visited the Candy Co. where the boys eagerly tried, for the first time, jelly beans.  They loved them :)

Saturday was our last day there so we relaxed and just hung out.

A few more phone calls with the realtor and we were off to have a relaxing day.

We ate lunch at Pops - a famous Route 66 diner and the boys indulged in some milkshakes.

Then after nap time - we hit a local park and discovered that the dirt really is red in OK!

Sunday early am we were on our way back to TX - a long drive that we thankfully broke up a bit by stopping in north Dallas at Steak n Shake ;)

Yes!

What a trip.

We got to find our new house.

We got to see a ton of cool sights.

And now the countdown begins!